The Doha Festival City development will be the eighth largest Retail development in the world based on currently operational malls. Comprising of a 260,000m² Retail super-regional shopping mall of over 580 units with over 31,000m² of entertainment and a 5 star Hotel. On this project I had direct responsibility for the set up and implementation of the Tenant Coordination department from staffing through to delivery of 580 units for trading. At this stage of the development, my role focused largely on the design management aspect of ensuring the development met the rigorous requirements of the international brands that will be valued tenants, as well as ensuring that the Design Criteria for the Tenants meet the latest and international best practice standards for fit out.

The Dubai Mall project comprised some 12 million square feet, 4 million of which is retail and F&B. I was responsible for 93 thousand square metres of retail space (1 million sq feet) divided among over 300 individual units. I had 4 Senior Tenant C-ordinators reporting directly to me, as well as the Systems and Processes Manager. It was under my remit to both design and implement all project processes and workflows in relation to the Retail Delivery Team. A part of my remit included reporting relevant, up to date information directly to the Director Retail Delivery. A significant part of my role was to ensure that the Base build design facilitated the interface between the mall and tenant demise lines. In order to facilitate this understanding of Tenant design and construction requirements by the Base building team it was my responsibility to co-ordinate and advise the Base build design and project management teams of these requirements in order to expedite the progress of the tenants both in design and construction. On opening, The Dubai Mall offered 4 million square feet of retail space, comprising some 1260 units.

The Dubai Festival City project comprises of Retail, Food and Beverage, Commercial and Residential elements. All retail and selective commercial design and fit-out within the Dubai Festival City project fell under my remit. This entailed managing a team that included 14 Tenant Co-ordinators, 6 document controllers and a Systems and Processes manager all of whom reported directly to me. As the Tenant Co-ordination Manager – Retail, I was responsible for approximately 90 thousand square metres (970 thousand square feet) of retail (503 units). A significant part of my role included reporting relevant, up to date information directly to the Managing Director for Shopping Centres and Real Estate, the Managing Director of Development and the CEO. In order to report the relevant information concisely and accurately, I had to create and manage systems and procedures both vertically and horizontally.In this role and project there was a greater emphasis on design control. The Consultant, Watt Intl., undertook the design review of retail units and I spent a large portion of time being involved, controlling and managing both the Consultant and the reviews of design. As a part of this I was responsible for creating the Design Criteria Manual that forms the foundation of all Tenant design and fit-out all the way through the Dubai Festival City project and is implemented in all future Al Futtaim Group Real Estate developments throughout the Middle East.As the understanding of Tenant design and construction requirements on a mall of this scale by the Base building team was relatively limited, I spent significant time co-ordinating and advising the Base build design and project management teams of these requirements in order to expedite the progress of the tenants both in the design and construction.

On this project I had direct responsibility for retail units approximating 11 thousand square meters (112 thousand square feet) of retail space, divided among some 60 different retailers, contractors and designers. Tenants, their designers and contractors were managed from the time of signing the Landlord’s lease to completion of their fit out. This to include coordination of the Landlord and Tenant design requirements, supervision of the Tenants’ contractors’ activities at site and management, on the Landlords behalf, of the fit out quality and programming including the merchandising and opening process logistics for all units.The team at Mall of the Emirates included 8 tenant co-ordinators, all of whom reported into the Tenant Co-ordination Manager. Other than standard duties as a Tenant Co-ordinator, 4 document control staff reported directly to me as a result of supervising and training the Document Controllers for the Tenant Co-ordination team. The preparation of departmental reports in liaison with department manager for presentation to the Client fell under my remit, as a result the other members of our team were required to report to me on a weekly basis. I was also responsible for the implementation and maintenance of a work flow process and various staff and client databases.